Every child’s nervous system takes in and organises sensory information from the world — sights, sounds, touch, movement, and more. For some children, this process can be confusing or overwhelming, affecting their ability to feel settled, focused, and comfortable in daily situations.

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At The Gabrielle Centre for Children, our Occupational Therapists work to understand each child’s unique sensory profile and support them to feel more organised and in control of their body. We explore how they respond to sensory input and use movement, play, and relational connection to build body awareness, confidence, and engagement.

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Sensory differences can appear in many ways — such as sensitivity to noise or touch, constant movement, big emotional reactions, fussy eating, or challenges with attention and coordination.

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Our approach is trauma-informed and neuro-affirming, recognising that sensory needs are part of each child’s individuality. Through playful, sensory-rich experiences and supportive relationships, we help children develop the regulation and confidence they need to participate fully in their world.​​​

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Theraplay® is a playful, relationship-based approach that builds emotional connection, trust, and joy between children and their caregivers. Rooted in attachment theory and sensory regulation principles, it uses simple, nurturing, and engaging interactions to help children feel safe, seen, and valued.

In Theraplay sessions, our Occupational Therapists use structured, playful activities that invite laughter, touch, and shared moments of success. These experiences help children develop self-esteem, body awareness, regulation, and relational safety, while strengthening the bond with their parent or therapist.

Theraplay focuses on four key elements:

• Structure – Providing predictability and safety through clear, supportive guidance.

• Engagement – Building connection through eye contact, shared joy, and play.

• Nurture – Offering warmth, care, and comfort to foster emotional security.

• Challenge – Encouraging confidence and mastery through achievable tasks and playful risk-taking.

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At GCFC, Theraplay is integrated across our practice — supporting children to experience co-regulation, positive attachment, and emotional resilience through relationship and sensory-rich play.

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The Greenspan Floortime® Approach, developed by Dr Stanley Greenspan, is a relationship-centred, developmental framework that helps children learn and grow through play and connection. Rather than focusing on a diagnosis or deficits, Floortime meets children exactly where they are — celebrating their strengths, interests, and unique ways of engaging with the world.

Through playful interaction, therapists and caregivers enter the child’s world, following their lead to build connection and emotional safety. From this foundation, we gently challenge creativity, curiosity, and spontaneity, helping the child develop higher levels of communication, thinking, and emotional understanding.

In practice, Floortime sessions involve:

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• Following the child’s lead and joining their emotional flow

• Encouraging creativity, problem-solving, and shared joy

• Expanding play to engage the child’s senses, movement, and emotions

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At GCFC, Floortime is woven into our broader trauma-informed, sensory-based approach — supporting each child to connect, regulate, and thrive through meaningful play and relationship.

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At The Gabrielle Centre for Children, we integrate a range of sound-based therapies to support regulation, attention, emotional connection, and sensory processing. These programs work through the auditory system to influence the nervous system, helping children feel calmer, more organised, and ready to engage in everyday life.

Our therapists use these programs as part of a neuro-affirming, trauma-informed approach — always paired with movement, relationship, and sensory-motor play to ensure safety and effectiveness.

We offer several evidence-informed sound-based programs:

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Therapeutic Listening®

Therapeutic Listening® uses specially modified music tracks to activate and organise the auditory and vestibular systems. When combined with movement and play, it can help children improve focus, postural control, emotional regulation, and body awareness.

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Tomatis® Method

The Tomatis® Method is a neurosensory program that uses filtered music and voice to stimulate the brain via the ear. It aims to improve listening, communication, emotional balance, and motor coordination by enhancing how the brain processes sound.

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Safe and Sound Protocol / Rhythm, Regulation and Play (SSP/RRP)

Developed from Dr Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) and Rhythm, Regulation and Play (RRP) use specially filtered music to help calm the nervous system and promote social engagement. Sessions are gentle and playful, supporting co-regulation, connection, and resilience through sound, rhythm, and relationship.

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Together, these programs form part of our holistic sensory and relational framework, helping children and families find greater balance, connection, and regulation through the power of sound and music.

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Interactive Metronome® (IM) is a research-based training program that uses rhythm and timing to support the brain’s ability to plan, focus, and coordinate movement. By synchronising physical actions with a precise beat, IM helps to strengthen attention, working memory, motor coordination, and executive functioning — key foundations for learning and everyday participation.

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IM works by refining the brain’s internal timing system, sometimes described as the “neural clock.” Improved timing supports more efficient communication between brain regions, enhancing how information is processed and integrated.

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Research suggests that IM training may strengthen connections within the parietal-frontal brain network — an area linked with attention, organisation, and problem-solving — and promote more efficient communication across the brain’s white matter pathways.

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At The Gabrielle Centre for Children, IM is integrated within a sensory-motor and relationship-based framework. Sessions are designed to be engaging, supportive, and success-oriented, helping children build confidence and regulation as they develop the rhythm, timing, and focus needed for daily life.

Dynamic Movement Intervention (DMI) is a movement-based therapy approach designed to help children develop improved postural control, balance, coordination, and motor planning. At GCFC, we use DMI within a playful, relationship-centred, and sensory-aware framework that honours each child’s readiness, safety, and confidence.

DMI uses a series of guided, purposeful movements that gently challenge the child’s body to activate automatic postural responses and new movement patterns. Through repetition, encouragement, and fun, children build strength, stability, and confidence in how their body moves through space.

In our practice, DMI sessions always begin with connection — ensuring that each child feels safe, supported, and motivated to try new challenges. We weave in rhythm, play, and sensory-motor experiences so therapy remains joyful and engaging, not mechanical.

DMI can support:

• Postural control and trunk strength

• Coordination, balance, and movement confidence

• Functional skills such as sitting, standing, crawling, and walking

• Regulation and body awareness through purposeful sensory input

As with all our approaches at The Gabrielle Centre for Children, DMI is delivered within a trauma-informed and neuro-affirming context — celebrating each child’s unique pace of development, and using movement as a pathway to connection, confidence, and regulation.

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